After No. 1 overall seed Auburn clinched its spot in the Elite Eight with a 78-65 win over No. 5 seed Michigan on Friday night, Auburn coach Bruce Pearl caped up for his conference. In his postgame interview with CBS’ Tracy Wolfson, Pearl pivoted to shoutout the SEC and even started an “S-E-C” chant with his team getting in on the fun.
The Tigers’ high-octane win gave the league four of the final eight teams in the NCAA Tournament field, tying an all-time record. The last league to place four teams in the Elite Eight was the ACC in 2016. If not for a late rally from No. 2 seed Michigan State, the tally would have been five.
However, the Spartans salvaged some dignity for the Big Ten with their 73-70 win over No. 6 seed Ole Miss as part of a thrilling round of Sweet 16 games. Michigan State trailed by nine with under 12 minutes remaining before turning it on late to bring coach Tom Izzo within reach of his ninth Final Four appearance.
In Friday’s nightcap, No. 1 seed Houston edged No. 4 seed Purdue 62-60 to give the Big 12 its second Elite Eight team alongside No. 3 seed Texas Tech. So entering this weekend’s set of four regional finals, the conference tally looks like this:
- SEC (4): No. 1 Auburn, No. 1 Florida, No. 2 Tennessee, No. 2 Alabama
- Big 12 (2): No. 1 Houston, No. 3 Texas Tech
- ACC (1): No. 1 Duke
- Big Ten (1): No. 2 Michigan State
With three No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdowns and a No. 1 vs. No. 3 matchup in the regional finals, this year’s seed total of 13 in the Elite Eight matches the 2007 field as the best-ever in NCAA Tournament history.
Here is the breakdown of winners and losers following the Sweet 16:
Winner: Johni Broome carries Auburn to the Elite Eight
After struggling in Auburn’s first two NCAA Tournament games last week, Broome looked like his usual self in his team’s win over No. 5 seed Michigan. Broome finished with a double-double (22 points, 16 rebounds) to send Auburn to its first Elite Eight since 2019. Michigan jumped out to a nine-point lead midway through the second half before Broome and others carried the Tigers to a win. This is by far the most talented team in Auburn’s history, so getting to the Final Four is paramount to live up to that billing. – Cameron Salerno
Loser: Ole Miss misses mark late
Ole Miss got to the doorstep of its first ever Elite Eight but came up just short in a 73-70 loss to No. 2 seed Michigan State. The No. 6 seed Rebels led by nine in the second half and did an excellent job of mitigating their size disadvantage for much of the game. However, the Spartans eventually became too much for Ole Miss to handle on the interior. Michigan State use a 26-12 edge in paint points over the second half to creep back in front and secure its spot in the Elite Eight. While Ole Miss with an impressive 13-6 edge in second-chance points, the free-throw line is where the difference came. The Spartans hit 19 of 22 from the charity stripe, including 13 of 14 in the second half while refusing to settle for outside shots. – David Cobb
Winner: Tennessee shows its variety
When Tennessee reached the Elite Eight last season, it do so on the back of first-team All-American and SEC Player of the Year Dalton Knecht. The eventual first-round selection of the Los Angeles Lakers turned in one of the great individual seasons in program history as the Vols matched their deepest-ever NCAA Tournament run. But in Friday’s 78-65 win over No. 3 seed Kentucky, the No. 2 seed Volunteers showed what could make this year’s squad more dangerous. Instead of one perimeter weapon leading the charge, it was a trio of guards who spearheaded the Vols in their win over an SEC rival. Zakai Zeigler had 18 points and 10 assists, Chaz Lanier added 17 points and Jordan Gainey contributed 16. All three have been “the guy” at times this season, and they were collectively too much for Kentucky to handle. – Cobb
Loser: Purdue wastes playing a ‘home’ game
No. 1 seed Houston played a de facto road game against No. 5 seed Purdue in the Sweet 16. Indianapolis is 65 miles from Purdue’s campus in West Lafayette, Indiana, while Houston’s campus is roughly 1,000 miles away. Despite being the No. 1 seed in the region, Houston had the furthest distance to travel to Indianapolis of the four teams in the Midwest Regional. The Cougars soldiered through a decidedly pro-Purdue environment to knock off the Boilermakers 62-60 after star guard Milos Uzan made a game-winning layup with 0.8 seconds remaining. – Salerno
Winner: Cooper Flagg steps up for Duke
No. 1 seed Duke has so rarely been tested by quality opposition in recent months that it was fair to wonder how the Blue Devils would respond when put in a pressure situation during the NCAA Tournament. But in Thursday’s 100-93 win over No. 4 seed Arizona, freshman phenom Cooper Flagg showed everyone why he’s considered a lock to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. The Wildcats mounted a second-half charge to infuse the Sweet 16 battle with some drama, but Flagg’s multi-faceted brilliance won the day. The versatile forward finished with 30 points, seven assists and six rebounds. He also blocked three shots and had a steal while bringing the Blue Devils within one victory of reaching the Final Four. – Cobb
Loser: Arkansas’ run ends in flames
It would have been one thing if Arkansas simply got outplayed against a better-seeded team in the Sweet 16. That would have made it easier to accept the end of a wild ride for the Razorbacks under first-year coach John Calipari. But it was how No. 10 seed Arkansas went out in an 85-83 overtime loss to No. 3 seed Texas Tech that may leave Hogs fans reeling. Arkansas was the better team for 35 minutes before the Red Raiders erased a 13-point deficit in under five minutes at the end of regulation. Then, in overtime, Calipari had a chance to call a timeout in the final seven seconds with his team trailing by two. Instead, he let a rudderless possession play out that ended in a wild miss from D.J. Wagner. That Arkansas made the Sweet 16 at all after an 0-5 start to SEC play was impressive. But the Razorbacks left even more on the table. – Cobb
Winner: Alabama soars into Elite Eight
Alabama broke the all-time record for most 3-pointers in an NCAA Tournament game as the No. 2 seed Crimson Tide flew past No. 6 seed BYU in a record-setting 113-88 victory. Bama rang up 25 triples on 51 attempts, led by a 10 of 16 clip from star guard Mark Sears. As CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander wrote from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, the 3-pointers “came down like meteorites, one after another after another.” The previous record of 21 made 3-pointers set by Loyola Marymount in 1990 stood for 35 years until the Crimson Tide obliterated it with over seven minutes left. – Cobb
Loser: Distractions cloud Maryland’s future
Maryland hadn’t lost a game by more than six points all season until the No. 4 seed Terrapins fell 87-71 against No. 1 seed Florida on Thursday. Perhaps the outcome was inevitable at the hands of a strong Gators team. But the unending drama over coach Kevin Willard’s future certainly didn’t help. Maryland and its “Crab Five” starting lineup led by star freshman Derik Queen shared the spotlight throughout the first two weeks of the Big Dance as Willard publicly feuded with his administration and flirted with the Villanova job. He wasn’t the only coach in this NCAA Tournament to have his sights set on a potential new gig, but he was the only one subsumed in the corresponding chaos. To a certain extent, it seems his team was as well. – Cobb
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